


Follow Me Down

by crypticrose



Category: Young Justice, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Growing Up Together, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-09 02:29:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3232892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crypticrose/pseuds/crypticrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Dick Grayson has horrible eyesight, Wally West has braces, and theyre stuck in the public school system and left to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Ugly Carrot

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic I plan to explore the wonderful world of public school and force these boys through it with no superpowers to shield them from their horrible peers. I hope you all enjoy the ride.

You wouldn't know by looking at Dick Grayson, and his iconic blue eyes, but his eyesight was almost as bad as his sense of humor. When he was in third grade his teachers always snapped at him to pay attention and take notes. He thought that his teachers must be falling victim to the trials of old age at last, since the only thing on the board were a ton of smudges, and a poorly drawn depiction of a male appendage that even the legally blind couldn't miss. 

The fourth time he “back talked” his teachers and got sent to the principals office for “insolence” and “brazen displays of disrespect” his father got called in. Dick took the news much better than the average troublemaker. He wasn't worried in the slightest, in fact, he was almost giddy. Bruce Wayne had a habit of sending teachers into an early retirement. 

Bruce arrived with a look of indifference on his face, but after about five minutes of Dick explaining very clearly that his teachers were losing their touch since they were telling him to take notes when there were no notes to take, Bruce noticed him squinting up a storm. Without another word he took his son home early and called in an eye doctor. 

The first time Dick Grayson tried on his glasses his jaw dropped and he almost stumbled into the wall out of shock. Trees had leaves! You were supposed to see the leaves! He was in awe. He still didn't understand how him getting glasses was going to help his teachers diminishing mental states but hey, he looked cool in them and trees had leaves, and nothing else mattered. 

He didn't understand why he stopped getting picked for teams in gym. Or why people would call him four eyes, and take his glasses off to wear them around and mock him. Just because he didn't know why they were bullying him for being able to see didn't mean that he stood by and let it happen. Hell no, he threw his fair share of punches when necessary. And the way he looked at it, it was always necessary. He got called down to the principle almost every day, but since no one wanted to be the one to deal with his father, he was invincible. 

 

In fourth grade a new student transferred into the school. He had bright orange hair, far too many freckles, green eyes, braces, and a lisp. He looked like a carrot. An ugly carrot. The type you would pick out of the bag and throw on the floor in disgust. 

He was always so energetic, darting about and being disgustingly friendly to everyone. Despite his energy and attitude he rarely smiled more than an upturn at the corners of his lips. He should be just as bullied as Dick, if not more, yet the same people that would throw Dick to the floor and steal his glasses would invite the new kid to lunch and share their food. 

The kid had a hidden talent that resulted in immunity from the assholes, and that was his speed. He was obscenely fast. Impossibly fast. And as a result he was always picked first for teams in gym, and invited over to play games during recess, and just generally treated like some sort of superhero. 

Which he was not.

Eventually the new kid got promoted to “captain” and had the power of choosing the members on his team. Dick sighed and leaned back against the wall ready to wait while everyone else got picked before he did. He waited a grand total of 30 seconds before he heard his name called. He looked up in shock and saw that carrot boy waving him over enthusiastically. He walked over cautiously, since this had to be another prank being pulled on him. But nothing happened. More names got called, and the two teams grew and grew, but he wasn’t really paying attention. He got picked first. 

He. Got. Picked. First!

After gym was over he headed off to the next class on his own, as per usual.

“Hey! Wait up!” He almost didn't stop since the calls were usually for someone else, but curiosity got the best of him. He turned around and saw the carrot boy running up to him. “My names Wally! You’re Dick, right?”

“Yeah...” Dick didn’t quite trust the boy, he seemed too friendly to be genuine. 

“Cool! um, this is kinda a dumb question, but where is the cafeteria?”He scratched the back of his neck and tilted his face to the floor to hide the flush of embarrassment that rose in his cheeks. “I keep getting lost.”

“And you want me to show you?” The kid nodded, looking uncertain, “Why? Don't you have like, a lot of friends?” That came out meaner than he meant it. 

“Um well, I guess but....” The kid looked so lost and flustered that Dick felt his distrust start to vanish. He’d cut him some slack. 

“Okay, fine.” He offered the other boy a sideways smile before heading off with him in tow. 

 

After that he never sat alone at lunch. Wally was always there with a closed mouth smile and a bag of food that was almost as big as he was. Dick found that he couldn't get rid of Wally, even if he wanted to. But why would he want to? He liked Wally! He liked the way his hair was always messier than his own, and the way he laughed whenever Dick told a shitty joke. Once he made Wally laugh so hard he snorted milk out of his nose and had to go to the nurse, which just made them both laugh harder. 

He finally had a friend. A real friend who he actually enjoyed spending time with. It was great. 

Wally would even stick up for him whenever a stray bully came along. Even though Dick was capable of handling them himself it was nice knowing that someone always had his back. In return he would help Wally with his homework and pack extra juice boxes and snacks so he could share. Alfred pretended not to notice the extra food missing from the cupboards. 

His visits to the principals office became less and less frequent, and now whenever he did get called down, he was never alone.


	2. Premature Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick doesn't want to stay in elementary school any longer than he has to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter sorry!! Bit of a filler so I can kick their asses into middle school where the REAL fun happens~

Wally was a grade above Dick, and it never really bothered him until he realized that at the end of the year Wally would be graduating, and he would be alone again. He didn't want his best, and only friend to leave. And most of all, he didn't want to be stuck in this school anymore. He heard that if kids were smart enough they could bypass an entire grade. And he was definitely smart enough. He was more than smart enough, and above that he had a secret weapon. His very own 5th grader, one Wally West. When he told the other boy his plan he immediately jumped on the bandwagon.

He gave Dick his old notebooks and told him the answers on the homework. Dick knew the answers on his own, but it was more fun when he got to hang out with Wally -who didn't always get the questions right, but Dick corrected them quietly. He didn't really need any help but cramming two grades into one year by yourself sounded tiresome and boring, and to be avoided at all costs. 

At the end of the year he snuck into Wallys class to take the end of the year exam for 5th graders, and no one was really surprised when he scored a good 20 points above his freckled friend. Wally feigned anger, but honestly he fell asleep halfway through the exam and didn't care enough to even do the essay. 

At the end of the year Dick took his place beside Wally on the auditorium stage for the graduation ceremony, as the first kid to ever officially graduate from the 4th grade. His father stood at the front of the audience, looking almost unbearably proud, and a teensy bit smug. Dick had a sneaking suspicion that his dad may have played an important role in his premature graduation, but he knew that Bruce Wayne would deny it till the day he died.


	3. My shiny teeth and me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Dick says things that change peoples lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REALLYYYYY short chapter because I had this scene and no idea where to put it so um here have some dorks being kind of romantic??? I dont know im actually using this chapter to distract you from the fact that I am still working on the next real one and I'm also v busy because end of the semester means lots of tears and work to make up because I'm trash and I write fanfiction in class instead of notes~

“Why don't you smile Walls?” Dick asked one day, seemingly out of the blue.   
“Huh?” Wally paused the game they were playing, or rather he was losing, and turned to face the other boy. “I smile all the time, see!” He stretched his lips up at the corners with his index fingers.   
“Nooo!” Dick shoved him over so he would stop doing that stupid thing with his face, “A real smile, like this!” Dick flashed him his most shit eating grin, all teeth and sass.   
“I-I can't..” Wally ducked his head and scratched the back of his neck. “I don't like showing my teeth.”  
“Why not?” he dragged his wrist across his chin to wipe off the trail of drool that had formed when he was grinning like an idiot.   
“‘Cause I got braces. And they make me look stupid.”  
“So? They're cool!” Dick grinned again, and pushed his glasses higher up on his nose, “They make you look like some sort of robot or something. Like out of a sci-fi movie!”  
“Really?”  
“Sure! Now lemme see those pearly whites, Walls.”  
“I...” Wally hesitated for a moment before mimicking Dick’s grin with a laugh.   
“There we go!” Dick leaned back and crossed his arms. “Turn on the charm!” 

It wasn't instantaneous, but slowly, Wally started to smile more.


	4. Kings of Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally can't look Dick's father in the face ever again, and Dick can't look well, anywhere. 
> 
> (I switched chapters 3 and 4 because it made more sense that way so if you're looking for the update its in chapter 3 now oops sorry for the confusion i'm awful~)

The summer before middle school was one neither boy would soon forget. Partially because it was the most fun they had ever had over a break in their entire lives. And partially because they -or rather Wally- had committed a crime so heinous that he could no longer set foot in the Wayne Manor for fear of running into Dick’s terrifying father, and facing the dire consequences. 

It all began when they were out in the park behind Wally’s house, playing a very intense game of soccer. They were pretty well matched, where Wally had speed, Dick had skill. It would be unfair, almost illegal, if they were to be placed on the same team- sports or otherwise. 

Dick was playing offence, and Wally was barreling down the field, ready to speed by him and score a goal. They were currently tied 0 to 0, but he was about to change that. His plan was foolproof. He was going to fake left, kick the ball right, and then loop around behind Dick and kick that motherfucker right into the makeshift goal. Dick on the other hand was going to use Wallys speed against him. He was going to fake left, since Walls always dodged right, then duck to the ground under the taller boy, and knock his knees out from under him. Sure it was cruel, but the stakes in this game were high. 

It was loser buys winner ice cream, and he knew that even with his exponential allowance, he could not afford to feed Wally West.  
He had to win. Hell, he’d probably end up giving Wally most of his cone anyway, so no harm done. 

It all happened so fast that neither one of them had a chance to stop it. When Wallys maneuver and Dicks maneuver were executed at the same time all it resulted in was a crash. Wally landed on top of the younger boy, the momentum of the crash forcing him to slam his face into Dick’s, nose colliding with glasses in a very distinct CRUNCH!

They lay there for a moment, collecting their breath and laughing, until Dick realized that his face was covered in blood. Wally’s blood. 

“Dude! Youre bleeding all over me!” Dick pushed at the larger boy’s shoulders, “Lemme see your face!”

Wally groaned and cupped his nose as he sat up, head swimming from the recent blunt force trauma, and blood loss. Dick followed suit, squinting his eyes until the world stopped spinning. 

“Oh fuck!” He heard Wally exclaim, but when he opened his eyes to see what happened his vision was still blurry as hell. “Dude I think I broke your glasses!” 

Wally was holding the pieces of his broken frame up to his face, but since the lense on his left eye had been shattered too it just made it harder to see. He took the glasses from him and squinted at Wally, who’s shirt and chin were wet with blood. 

“I think I broke your nose...”

 

They hurried back to Wally’s house and casually broke in through the basement window. HIs parents would be home by now and if they saw their baby covered in blood they would certainly ask questions, and of course phone Dick’s dad. Which both boys agreed needed to be avoided at all costs. 

Dick squinted until he found the tell-tale red cross that indicated first aid kit. He grabbed it and staggered over to where Wally was stripping out of his ruined shirt and using it to stop the bleeding in his nose. Dick opened the case and brought it up to his face, narrowing his eyes at the contents until he found some wet wipes, and a small brown spider- which he definitely dealt with an a very manly, and dignified way. 

“How lonf am I thupposed to do tis for?” Wally asked, voice muffled by his blood sodden shirt and clogged up nose. 

“Until it stops bleeding, Walls.” Dick placed the wet wipes on the side and looked for some gauze or cotton balls to stop the bleeding. All he found was an old pack of tissues and some band-aid wrappers. “This’ll have to do,” He muttered before taking the tissues, closing the case, and putting it back in its place. 

“How do I know if ‘m still bleedinf?”

“Do you feel like you’re bleeding?” Dick swore under his breath when his foot collided with the edge of a large cardboard box, on his way back to the idiot with the bloody face. 

“I feel like ‘m dying!”

Dick rolled his eyes and limped over to Wally. “Lemme see, move your hand.” He swatted Wall’s hand away from his face and tilted his head from side to side.

“Doesn't blood loss kill people?!” Wally reluctantly let Dick check out his face, wincing every so often from pain. 

“I’m like, 80% certain that no ones ever died from a bloody nose.”

“Thats like a 20% margin of error Dick!” 

Dick rolled his eyes again and ignored the taller boy in favor of rolling up a couple of tissues into makeshift... tampons. 

“Just shut up and stick these up your nose if you wanna live.”

Wally took the tissues and eyed him suspiciously. 

“Do you wanna keep bleeding, Walls?”

“Not really, no.”

“So...” Dick crossed his arms and squinted at him expectantly until Wally twisted the tissues into his nose with a grimace. 

“Tho... how do I look?” Dick tried not to laugh, “Oh gee thanks ath-hole!”

Thats when Dick lost it. 

“Here ‘ath-hole’” Dick handed Wally the pack of wipes, “Get the blood off your face, I’ll go get you a clean shirt.” 

“Can you even make it up the thairth?” Wally took the wipes from him and began tentatively smearing the blood of of his face. 

“I’m not that blind!” Dick started up the stairs with the intention of sneaking into Wallys room, or the laundry room if it was unoccupied. On the third step he tripped over an empty can of paint that he swore came out of nowhere! He groaned and stood back up, ignoring Wally’s laughter as he continued up the stairs. 

So much for stealth. 

 

After they managed to get Wally dressed and cleaned up they had to make their way over to Dick’s house, since he was currently blind as fuck, and there was no way Wally was letting him to head crosstown on his own. He would either die, or cause a national emergency.

But knowing Dick it was likely to be both. 

Bruce was still out at work when they got there, but Alfred took one look at the boys and knew. He wouldn't tell Mr. Wayne of course, he would let Dick do the explaining, since Bruce was a tough man to fool. 

“What exactly are we looking for here?” 

“My sunglasses.” Dick picked up a pencil case and squinted at it. 

“Pencil case. Why your sunglasses?” Wally rummaged through a drawer of old school supplies before shutting it and opening another. 

“They’re perscription.” He held what looked like a hotwheels car up to his face. 

“Dude, how blind are you?”

“I’m not blind, I can see fine!” He glared at the older boy and put the toy car in his underwear drawer before picking up a shoe.

“Sure you can,” Wally mused while he watched the younger boy prod at the shoe. “Thats a shoe Dick.”

“I know that!” He dropped the offending item of clothing on the floor and flopped over onto his bed with a sigh. 

“Aha! These them?” Wally hopped over a pile of clothes and sat on the bed next to Dick, “Because if they're just a normal pair of sunglasses I will actually cry.”

“I almost forgot you had freckles.” Dick sat up while wearing the glasses and gave Wally a once over, “And severe bruising on your nose.”

 

They spent the rest of the day playing video games at Dick’s house. It was too dark for them to go back outside and not risk further injury or property damage. 

In a couple of weeks Wallys family would leave for their end of summer vacation to not fucking America, and Dick would have nothing to do but lay on his bed and squint at the ceiling. Sure he would see his friend when school started up again, but he would miss the hell out of him for the three weeks before that. Wally promised to IM him and take lots of pictures and bring back souvenirs from everywhere they went, but it wouldn't be the same. 

Wally would be off who the fuck knows where with his bruised nose, and Dick would be stuck in Gotham, squinting through year-old sunglasses.


	5. Not with a bang, but with a lot of rustling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it begins... Dick and Wally learn the true meaning of friendship, and by that I mean they learn that 11 year olds will always giggle at anything that alludes to male genetalia, no matter the context.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter txt it. The next one may take a bit longer because in my drafts I skipped right to 7th grade, but like hey whats the fun in torture if it isnt prolonged amiright?? So let me know if I should keep them in 6th grade for more shenanigans or nah.

Wally came back to the first day of 6th grade with so many freckles Dick thought he had actually gotten a tan. He figured he would have known more about the idiot id he had stayed in touch, but no. He tried to keep good on the IM promise, but after a day or two his messages became infrequent and rushed. By the second week they had stopped altogether. It was just so strange to see him again in person after three weeks of pure memory. 

Wally ran right up to him in the auditorium and grinned so wide that Dick forgot this boy used to be afraid to smile. He handed him a small bag and appologised for the lack of contact so fast he tripped over his words and wasn't even comprehensible, but Dick appreciated the gesture. He was about to reply, and tell the almost tan idiot that it was chill, and all that free time to himself had made him get creative, and now he was an absolute BOSS at macrame, but before he could even get a word out a teacher dragged Wally back to his alphabetical place among the rest of the W’s. Dick was stuck with the G’s, but he thought maybe he should play the Wayne card and get kicked to the back of the auditorium so that he would have someone to make this orientation less awful. Before he could pipe up about the “mistake” in his last name the principal came on stage and a hush fell over the room like a blanket. 

He’d just sit through this and try not to pass out due to boredom. 

He started to nod off about 5 minutes in, and accidentally smashed his face into Wallys present, which was still sitting on his lap. Shit, he should probably open that, lest he fall asleep into it again and get another papercut on his cheek. 

He slid his fingers under his sunglasses and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, damn he was sick of school already.

Dick tried to make as little noise as possible, but paper bags were not suited for covert operations. He managed to get the contents of the bag out and onto his lap with a grand total of three glares, and one shush from a teacher. Score! New record. 

He found a packet of pictures, all of wally in strange places, and he discovered that if you used them like a flip book you could actually witness him getting more freckles. Apparently the wing like sound of his makeshift flip book, and his snickering were also too loud because his tally went up by one glare, and one shush. 

“Everybodys a critic.” He muttered. 

He put the pictures back into their plastic slip, and back into the gift bag. There was still a t-shirt or something left, but he doubted he could piss off the teacher with it. It was still worth a try. He shook the shirt out violently to find that it was actually a hoodie, which was great because he was freezing his ass off in the drafty auditorium. 

The hoodie was the sort of deep red that low budget horror films would call “blood” but it was really more in the raspberry jam category. There was a black oval on the upper left with a yellow R in it. He must've gone somewhere with an R, like Rio or Rome or Radio Shack (which would be the most exotic). He shrugged and zipped it on because it had a fleece lining and red was like, totally his color. He ran the zipper up and down a couple times to make more noise, for old times sake. 

He was too busy well Dicking around to hear the class placements, but it didn't matter because once the kids started heading off to their first period Wally ran up to him and grinned. 

“Thought you’d like it!”

“Its warm and wow you got enough freckles to enter a Snooki look alike competition.” 

“What the hell is a Snooki?” Wally picked up Dick’s backpack and handed it to him, “Is it a snack food, because it sounds like a snack food.” 

Dick shook his head and held back a laugh. “Nevermind, What class are you in?”

“Yours!” He was practically vibrating with excitement. Dick high fived him because sweet now they could make teachers question their career choices together. There was just one small problem.

“Cool, um and what class are we in?”

“No idea, lets find out.” And with that Wally grabbed Dick’s sleeve and took off running. 

 

“I can't believe you're still wearing the sunglasses.”

“They're not so bad,” Dick shrugged. “Once you get used to them.”  
“You look like an asshole...” Dick slid the glasses down on his nose just so he could glare at Wally. “Like a james Bond asshole, um totally cool and please stop lookin at me like that you're freakin me out!” 

Dick shoved the glasses back up on his nose and lowered his voice an octave (or as much as he could for a prepubescent boy) “Grayson, Dick Grayson, license to-”

“Be an asshole.” Wally mimicked his voice, which earned him a punch in the arm from Grayson Dick Grayson, and a menacing shush from their teacher. Wally glared at her, and stuck his tongue out the second she turned her back on them. Dick had to cover his mouth with both hands to stop from cracking up. 

Dick had a feeling, and a very cheesy one at that, that this year was going to be the best one ever! Or at least one of the best ones ever, since he was only 10 and had many, potentially great, years to come. 

 

He was wrong. It was only halfway through the first day and he was already sick of it. By the second week he was downright terminal. He was tired of being called “Richard” by his teachers, and even more tired of the snickers from his classmates when he told them “Call me Dick.” 

“Fucking 11 year olds!” He groaned, collapsing into his seat at their lunch table and burying his head into his folded arms. 

“Arent you like, 9?” Wally said between mouthfuls of food. 

Dick peeked up from his arms, his glasses had slid back up onto his forehead when he first put his head down, and they were slowly falling back into place. “I just turned 10 Walls, you were there remember, you ate like half the cake!” He let his face fall back into his arms. 

“Why are you being so bitchy today Dick?”

Dick sat up completely, red marks on his face from where his glasses had been pressing into it, and glared. He picked a carrot off of Wally’s lunch tray and flicked it at his face. “Don't call me that anymore!” He hissed, looking around to see if anyone noticed the exchange. 

“What? Bitchy?” Wally swatted the carrot out of his hair, and flicked some rice at Dick, using his plastic spoon as a catapult

“No!” Dick ruffled his hair to get the rice out of it. “Not bitchy. Dick. Don't call me Dick!”

“What?” Wally paused before taking another bite of his school lunch slime, “Okay, sure thing Richard?”

“Don't call me that either!”

“Grayson? Sunglasses? Shorty?” 

“No!” Dick dragged his hands down his face and fell forward on the table again. 

“Than what?!” Wally wanted to do the same, but there was food all over the place in front of him so he thought, perhaps not. 

“I need a secret nickname, something cool, but also something teachers would go for.”

“You have anything in mind?” Wally swallowed the last bite of his food and dragged Dick’s tray across the table. 

“Umm...” Dick let his eyes wander around the room, hoping inspiration would come out of nowhere and punch him in the face. Or maybe just tap him on the shoulder. That would work too. 

“How about Batman!” Wally suggested unhelpfully. 

“What? No.” Dick rolled his eyes at the other bot, totally unwilling to play into his stupid comic book obsession. He really wished that the kid would act his age and get into more mature hobbies, like macrame, or online FPS gaming.

“Okay then Superman.”

“No, youre terrible at this!” He slumped back down onto the table and let his eyes wander to the window. There were a couple of birds on the tree outside. Two were brown and boring, but a little cute and a lot sassy. The third bird was much larger and had bright red feathers adorning his breast. He could've sworn he felt a faint tapping on his shoulder. Good thing he didn't stick with the punching idea. 

“What about Robin then? Since you're shooting down every superhero, maybe a sidekick-”

“Robin?” He interrupted, not ready to listen to another lecture about Green Arrow’s magical space ring that gave him abilities to kick ass like a speeding bullet or whatever. Luckily Wally must've seen the bird outside, and got punched in the face by inspiration too. “Hmm wait actually thats not a terrible idea.”

“You wanna be called Robin?”

“Why not, its got a nice ring to it, and besides, red is totally my color.” 

"Does that mean I get to be Batman!" Wally nearly dropped his fork back into his food out of excitement at the notion.

“No, why would you get to be Batman?”

“Because him and Robin-”

“I don't care, i'm not calling you Batman, thats just stupid.” He cut him off again, because if he had to hear about Batman and his cloak of invisibility that allowed him to protect some goth kid from laughing at jokes, one more time, he was going to actually die. 

“You're right, batman doesn't suit me, i'm more of a Flash kind of guy.” Wally puffed his chest out with a grin. 

“Who?” Dick deadpanned. 

“The red guy with the lightening bolt who runs really fast!” Wally was bouncing up and down in his seat. He must really like this photogenic guy. 

“Never heard of him.”

“You're probably too young.” He shook his head with a sigh.

“No, youre just behind on the times Walls.”

“I'm not behind on the times! You just don't read enough, reading makes you smarter Di- Robin.” Wally caught himself and grinned apologetically. Dick rolled his eyes, and bit his lip to keep from smiling. 

“You realize that comic books don't count as reading, right.” 

“Yeah, and you realize that computer RPG’s don't count as gaming, right.”

Dick picked up his fork and aimed it right at Wally’s stupid freckled, almost tan, face, “Watch yourself West.”

**Author's Note:**

> The language is going to get more advanced as they grow up because right now they are babies, and I am lazy.


End file.
